Huizhou Characteristic Mobile Toilet
The characteristic mobile toilet in Huizhou is mainly reflected in the design and management of the 'tide toilet', with its core being to alleviate the problem of women queuing for toilets through a flexible toilet-stall allocation mechanism.
Flexible Toilet-Stall Allocation Mechanism
To address the phenomenon of long queues of women waiting for toilets during major holidays, Huizhou West Lake Scenic Area has installed sliding signs at the entrance of the public toilet northeast of Zhunti Temple. The cleaning staff can adjust the signs according to the on-site queuing situation to switch men's toilets to women's toilets. This design enables dynamic allocation of men's and women's toilet stalls through rapid adjustments of physical signs. For example, when there are more women queuing, part of the men's toilet area can be temporarily converted into a women's toilet area, thereby shortening women's waiting times. However, this method has obvious drawbacks: netizens have reported that the signs can be easily and randomly adjusted with a very low threshold for modification, which can easily lead to confusion between men's and women's toilet areas and even cause management chaos. For instance, tourists may mistakenly enter the opposite-sex area due to unclear signs, or cleaning staff may make operational errors, resulting in chaotic toilet-stall allocation.
Subsequent Improvement Measures
In response to the above issues, the scenic area has optimized the 'tide toilet' by replacing the sliding signs with fixed slot-type doorplates. These doorplates are usually stored in the management room and are only taken out and placed for indication when there are long queues of female tourists waiting for toilets. They are only hung up during holidays when scheduling is required. This improvement enhances the stability of the signs through physical fixation, avoiding the management risks associated with random adjustments while retaining the core function of flexible toilet-stall allocation. For example, the fixed slot-type doorplates require specific tools or permissions for operation, reducing the probability of misoperation. Moreover, the hanging design makes them more eye-catching and easier for tourists to identify.
Pilot Operation Situation
During the Spring Festival of 2026, Huizhou West Lake Scenic Area officially piloted the operation of the 'tide toilet'. A total of three public toilets were included in the tide scheduling, namely those northeast of Zhunti Temple, beside the East Gate, and beside Danli Pavilion. The pilot results showed that this mechanism effectively alleviated the problem of long queues of women waiting for toilets. For example, during peak holiday periods, through dynamic toilet-stall allocation, the average waiting time for women was shortened by about 40%, and there were no complaints due to sign confusion. This outcome verifies the feasibility of the 'tide toilet' design and provides practical evidence for its subsequent promotion.
